The action of the Grand Prix of Indones​ia is well and truly on at dreamy Lombok Island, with Red Bull KTM Tech3’s Enea Bastianini and Maverick Viñales having kicked off their campaign at the Mandalika ​C​ircuit, welcoming MotoGP™ for the fourth consecutive year. It wasn’t an easy start for our riders, with both failing to make the cut to Q2 at the end of Friday’s Practice. Bastianini closed the day with the 15th time, while Viñales ended the day in P19​, as he continued to fight through the pain from his left shoulder.

Grand Prix of Indonesia

Extreme track conditions were an extra factor to consider on Friday, with the humid and hot climate of Lombok island adding more difficulties to the physical exercise of riding the MotoGP™ machine. As he arrived from Motegi with some improvements made during the race, Enea Bastianini was eager to see if he could bring those to Indonesia, so the opening FP1 was dedicated to making some set-up tests. Times were quite close between all riders, and Enea took the 19th time​, despite being just 1.3 seconds away from Luca Marini​, fastest this morning. Later in the afternoon, Bastianini was back for Practice, but he continued to struggle somehow to find the right feeling with his RC16 on the Indonesian layout. Before the final time attacks, Enea sat in P19 when ​he picked Johann Zarco’s wheel for the final run. The Italian eventually improved to a 1'30.385 before a few yellow flags were waved with late crashes, but unfortunately, Enea was next to go down at T3, in the final seconds of Practice. P15 for the number 23, as he faces Q1 on Saturday morning.

The opening day in Lombok wasn’t quite easy either for Maverick Viñales, who continued to fight through the pain from his left shoulder.​ After Japan, the target for our Top Gun was to try getting back to the bike set up he had before his crash in Germany, so the team has worked towards that goal since settling down in Bali's little sister. In Free Practice 1, the feeling wasn't too bad for Maverick, as he rounded up the session with the 15th time, just behind teammate Brad Binder, less than one second from Marini. The afternoon's Practice was tougher for the number 12, who continued to be limited by his shoulder, not recovering as fast as he would like, although it has already been an impressive recovery process so far. A 1'30.529​ was the best he could lap this afternoon, as he finished 1.289 seconds from the top of the timesheets. He will face Q1 alongside teammate Bastianini on Saturday morning. The action will resume at 10:10 LT (UTC+8), followed directly by the qualifying sessions. Next, we will have the Tissot Sprint at 15:00, with 13 laps!

ENEA BASTIANINI: "At the start of both sessions today, the first 3-4 laps felt really dangerous because the rear grip was too low, but then the track improved and we could feel a bit better. We have crashed a lot lately, on Fridays, on Saturdays… which is not normal, and it also tells us that we are in a critical situation. I really hope that we can find some improvements, for my future, because we are going through a tough period again, and at the moment, we can’t solve our issues.​ Let's check everything with the team tonight, because we need to arrive on Saturday in better shape."

MAVERICK VIÑALES: "Tough day for us, physically. We have a lot to analyze together with the team, and we need to make an important decision. Whether to stop and come back fully fit, or to keep going like this, but riding in my current condition is very hard for me, because I feel a lot of pain, and I can't give the right feedback. We need to be smart, and evaluate which will be the best way to recover the fastest. This track is quite challenging, and I lose a lot of time in the changes of direction, so we are not at our best. I want to be on the bike, but let's see our possibilities."

PRACTICE SESSION RESULTS

TRACK RECORDS

All Time Record: 2024 - J. Martin (SPA) - 1’29.088  - 173.8 km/h
Best Race Lap: 2024 - E. Bastianini (ITA) - 1’30.539 - 171.0 km/h
Best Pole: 2024 - J. Martin (SPA) - 1’29.088  - 173.8 km/h
Top Speed: 2024 - P. Acosta (SPA) - 319.5 km/h